Marvel Rivals players agree Duelist with ‘no flaws’ is a must-ban

Banning is a crucial part of high-rank Marvel Rivals games, and players believe one Duelist deserves to be hit with the ban hammer every match. That character is none other than Bucky, the Winter Soldier.

On Feb. 23, players discussed why Bucky is a “valid ban.” Most players agreed he should be banned every match, pointing out how he has almost “no flaws,” and each of his abilities can provide massive value for his team.

“He has an extremely inflated kit for being a 275 hero with armor on all abilities, cc, and an ult that lasts way too long between intervals of resets,” one player said, and many agree. “Yes, he is a menace and is weird that he got away of season one nerf list,” another added.

On Feb. 21, NetEase introduced Patch 1.5 for Marvel Rivals, buffing and nerfing characters throughout the roster. To the surprise of players, The Winter Soldier wasn’t on that list.

The most stand-out ability from Bucky’s kit is his ultimate, which deals massive AoE damage, resets after he kills an enemy, and provides him with a shield. But players also claimed his other abilities are overpowered. These include a hook to pull opponents, a short dash with an uppercut, a rewarding team-up with Rocket, and a slow on an energy ball-like projectile. “He really has no flaws,” one player said.

A few players suggested possible changes to Bucky that would make him more balanced, mostly touching upon his ultimate and armor mechanic. “I think if they need to change him, he needs to lose like four seconds off his reset interval [on ultimate] or reduce the amount of armor he gets on abilities a bit,” a player suggested. “If they made it so he couldn’t get armor for simply existing… he wouldn’t be an issue,” another added.

Bucky had the sixth-highest win rate in Competitive in season one at 51.28 percent, according to Marvel Rivals’ official data. Four out of five characters above him received changes in the latest patch notes.

Nevertheless, Winter Soldier is a solid ban in the meta, especially if a player knows how to use him. Bans become available from a Diamond rank upwards, given you have no Platinum players in your lobby.